The Last One's Standing, Season 2
by JoleneMarie
Summary: Gemma and Daryl are back for Season 2! New friendships, new situations, and the group begins to learn more and more about Daryl's mysterious ex-Marine wife. (Daryl/OC) Rated T for language. PLEASE REVIEW! And check out my other Daryl story, "Salvation". Hope you like!


Alright, here you guys go! I plan on doing a lot more flash backs in this season and In going to attempt at making my chapters a bit longer. Definitely check out my new story, "Salvation", revolving around Daryl's daughter. Anyways, give me feed back people! And also, i apologize its a little short and also mostly a flash back but i did get a request for longer flash backs. REVIEWREVIEWREVIEW! REVIEWS MAKE ME HAPPY!

Chapter 1

 _The Middle Eastern heat truly rivaled that of Georgia, Gemma decided. She exited her tent and made her way to use the phone to call Daryl, which they tried to make at least a weekly routine since she left on deployment 4 months ago. But conditions were getting more and more dangerous in the neighboring areas surrounding Bagram Air Force Base. Kabul was a war zone. She was getting ready to head into the lost city to help look for civillian survivors of the last round of bombings. She also needed to talk to some of the locals to try to get infornation on any rumors about upconing attacks._

 _Gemma dialed out on the sattelite phone, wind gusting slightly around her creating mini sand storms._

 _"Hello?" Came Daryl's voice in the other end._

 _"Hey, babe!" She tried to sound cheerful._

 _"Hey! How.. How are you doin?" His voice went soft._

 _"Oh, well. Work is work I guess. We're getting ready to head out and I just wanted to hear your voice." She shamfully confessed._

 _"... I miss you, babe."_

 _Gemma teared up slightly, hearing the love and concern in his voice, "I miss you so much. I love you." She tried to keep her composure._

 _"I love you too. Stay safe out there. You promised me you would."_

 _"I will, I promise, I will. Say hi to Merle for me. Stay out of trouble." She smiled slightly saying the last part._

 _"Reed! Lets move!" Her Seargant called after her._

 _"I gotta go. I love you. Ill call again as soon as I can."_

 _"I love you too. Go be a badass, babe."_

 _Gemma smiled and hung up the phone. She ran to her tent to retreive her backpack and rifle. She slung both over her shoulders and hopped in the armored car. She took a seat with her 4 other companions, their fifth being the driver. 'Fortunate Son' by Creedence Clearwater Revival played through the tiny speakers the driver, Lance Corporal Spencer, had set up._

 _"Hey, playin my jams, man!" Gemma complimented, "But I dunno if this song is fitting for this drive."_

 _"Why not?" Spencer asked her._

 _"Cuz we sure as hell aint no Fortunate Sons." She laughed_

 _Her companions snickered with her and they were off on the long druve to Kabul._

 _Meanwhile, Back in Georgia..._

 _Daryl relucutantly hung up the phone and sighed, running a hand theough his hair. He hated her being there, in constant danger without him there to protect her._

 _"That Gem?" Merle inquired as he entered the room. Daryl just nodded._

 _"Man, I dunno why your so in a knot about it! Girl could be screwin any one of them meat heads she out there with and your in here sulkin about it.." Merle teased, "Why dont ya go find yourself some pussy and do us all a favor ?"_

 _"What the hell!?" Daryl angrily yelled back, "She could get blown the hell up at any minute and your sittin here sayin that shit to me? Shut the fuck up, Merle!"_

 _Daryl didnt wait for an answer, he grabbed his keys and made for the door._

 _"Just tryin to instill some reality in ya, lil brother!"_

 _"Yeah, whatever." Daryl huffed as he got into his truck and peeled out of the drive way. He needed to think and he couldnt that with his stupid brother there making his stupid remarks. He needed Gemma. And he prayed to God, the one time in his life, that she would come home to him._

 _Back in Afghanistan..._

 _The armored covoy made its way slowly into the rubbled city. It came to a stop and Gemma and her crew hopped out of the vehicle._

 _"Ortiz, Havock, you take that side," Seargant Moore instructed, "Spencer and Hale, you stay with the vehicle. Reed, your with me on intelligence._

 _The group took point and Gemma followed her Seargant through the destruction._

 _Hours passed as the team worked. Talking to elders, wives and bringing supplies to people. They heard a commotion coming from the direction of the car while in the middle of interviewing an elderly man whose son had fallen in with Al Qeada. Gemma and her Seargant ran towards the yelling to find a small boy, no older than 15, with an RPG pointed at their armored vehicle. A woman in a burka stood next to him. Gemma and Seargant Moore had their weapons at the ready. Spencer and Hale were franctically trying to communicate with the boy, who was crying as he pointed the device at Gemma's comrades._

 _"Hey! Put the weapon down! Hey, Kid! Lower the weapon!" The Seargant tried to frighten the boy into lowering his weapon, but it didnt work. Ortiz and Havock came from the other side of the commotion._

 _It all happened so fast._

 _The woman had a bomb strapped to her. But before they could react it was too late. The boy pulled the trigger, releasing the RPG. The armored car was blow to pieces. Seconds later, the woman in the burka activated her bomb._

 _Gemma's ears wrang horribly, her vision fuzzy as she found herself on the ground. She could faintly hear yelling. She sat up and looked at the massacre before her. Her Seargant was on the ground about 10 feet from her. He wasnt moving. Body parts and rubble from the car littered the ground. It took her a moment to realize she was covered in blood and dirt. Pieces of the boy and the woman lay scattered, as well as the remains from her comrades, Ortiz and Havock. Spencer and Hale were surely dead, scortched inside the destproyed vehicle. She managed to get on her feet and stumble to her commanding officer. Civillians began emerging to see what was going on. Other convoys who heard the blast were making their way over._

 _Gemma reached the officer and tried to wake him. His face and clothes were bloody, he was a few feet closer to the blast than she was._

 _"Searg! Ah shit." Her efforts were useless. He was dead. They were all dead. She slumped back to the ground, taking in the horrific scene in front her. The remains of the children who had just taken the lives of the men she had gotten to know so well. They were her friends. They were a team. They looked out for eachother and now here she was, the last man standing._

 _Before she could call for backup on the radio, an Army group doing some scouting work was at her aid. No words needed to be spoken as they helped her into their convoy to transport her back to base. The General leading the Army group put a hand on her shoulder, shaking her from her thoughts as the vehicle bumped along the old pavement._

 _"First deployment?" The General asked._

 _Gemma looked up at him for a moment, then looked away and nodded._

 _"You did good, Marine. Nothing can ever prepare you for the shit you see in a war zone. Just keep your shit together the way you did."_

 _Gemma just nodded once more and replayed those words in her head over and over._

 _"Nothing can prepare you. Just keep your shit together."_

Gemma was torn from her memories when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to see Daryl handing her a few of their duffels to put in the RV. They were officially abandoning the truck for Merle's motorcycle. Daryl had asked if she wanted to ride in the RV but she declined, saying she could use some time on the back of the motorcycle. As she continued packing her thoughts went back to her first deployment. After that attack, it was another month before they sent her back home. She remembered the tough nights that followed after her return. Daryl up with her at all hours of the night as that day replayed in her dreams. Seeing the scattered limbs of those children and her murdered friends. Seeing the terrified look in that young boys face before he took their lives. She shook her head and continued the preparation for their trip to Fort Bedding.

"You alright, Gem?" Gemma turned to see Lori Grimes talking to her.

Gemma eyed her a moment before nodding, "Yeah, fine. Ready to get on the road is all."

Lori nodded, "I realized I never properly thanked you for, well, saving our lives pretty much the, uh, the night of the fish fry. So, uh, thank you."

Gemma eyes her again with a stern look, then shrugged, "No trouble. Just lookin out."

Lori nodded once more, "And uh. If you get tired on the back of the motorcycle. We have some room in the blazer, you just holler."

Gemma nodded to her, "Thank you."

"No trouble." Lori responded before she turned back to her own packing of the blazer. Gemma watched after her. Was Lori Grimes... trying to make friends with her? For whatever reason, Gemma found this odd. Not a lot of other women could stand to be around Gemma's cold, cynical personality. And why Lori would take any sort of liking to her was strange. But she didnt dwell on it.

With the Grimes's and the Peletier's in the blazer, it was Gemma and Daryl on the motorcycle and the rest in the RV.

Gemma and Daryl had the majority of their things piled into the back to the RV. Daryl had his crossbow draped across the front of the motorcycle, Gemma had her rifle on her back. She hopped on, wrapping her arms around her husbands waist. She softly rested her head against his back and made what she thought to be an inauble whisper before Daryl responded, "I love you, too."

Gemma gave a small smile and they were on their way down the dangerous highway.

As they got going, one sentence echoed through Gemma's head.

 _"Nothing can ever prepare you."_


End file.
